Container cap



June 17, 1958 M. R. ENGLAND, JR

CONTAINER CAP Filed April 19, 1955 INVENTOR. Max A. ENGLAND, JR.

BYJMM M A TTORNEVLS.

United States Patent ()fiice 2,839,210 Patented June 17, 1958 CONTAINERCAP Max R. England, In, Ottumwa, Iowa Application April 19, 1955, SerialNo. 502,364

Claims. (Cl. 215-46) My invention relates to improvements in containeror bottle caps.

Such caps are in wide use on food and pharmaceutical containers, forexample, to such an extent that it is safe to assume almost everyonecomes in daily contact with them. They are frequently being removed andreplaced until the containers are empty and the experience ofencountering tight fitting caps that seem to defy loosening ispractically universal. Various means are employed to remove these capsat times such as wrapping a cloth around them to increase friction ofthe fingers, using a blunt instrument to tap it loose and even the useof some tool such as pliers or the like. The latter two methods canfrequently result in a broken container which is of course veryunsatisfactory.

It is the principal object of my invention to overcome this problem andthis I have done by providing a novel friction finger tab in the sidewall of the bottle cap so that it may be easily removed from a bottle orthe like.

More particularly it is an object of this invention to provide a pair ofspaced slits in the bottle cap which are designed to frictionallyreceive a friction tab that projects beyond the periphery of the cap.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bottle or container capof the above class that is economical to manufacture and extremelyefiicient for its intended use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangements, andcombination, of the various parts of the device, whereby the objectscontemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth,specifically pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective of a preferred embodiment of my new bottle capshown in place on the neck of a bottle,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view of this new cap taken on theline 22 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevational view of the friction tab used on thebottle cap and shows the inner side thereof, and

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional View of the tab taken from the line 44 ofFig. 3.

Referring to the drawings a bottle or container cap of a common form isindicated generally at and no invention is claimed for such cap per se.It may be made of rubber, plastic, or any other suitable material andmay be applied to neck portion of a bottle 12 by threads or a frictionfit which is immaterial as relates to my invention. It will beappreciated that such type of caps 10 can and do get difficult "toremove at times from being unnecessarily tightened and also due to thefact that the contents of the bottle may be of a sticky nature whichtend to effect an unusually tight bond between the cap and bottle neckportion.

Cap 10 consists of the top 14 and annular side wall 16 as shown and inthe wall 16 I have made a pair of spaced openings 18 for frictionallyremovably receiving the tab or clip designated generally by the numeral20 in Fig. 4. This tab 20, preferably made from some resilient materialsuch as plastic or the like, is formed with an arcuate body 22 on whichthe respective end portions are turned under and towards each other toform the hook or clip portions 24 and 26. It is these clips which arepressed through the respective openings 18 in cap 10 to engage the innerside thereof as shown in Fig. 2. When thus positioned it will be notedthat the curvature of body 22 is such as to conform with the curvatureof wall 16 and thereby creates a raised finger tab projection beyond theperiphery of the cap wall. To increase the effectiveness of this tab asa friction grip means when removing the cap 10 from a bottle 12 I havecovered the outer surface of body 22 with a friction material 28 whichas shown extends around the curved ends thereof but does not cover theclips 24 and 26. In this way, material 28 extends into openings 18 (Fig.2) and provides an effective edge for gripping at points 30 near theopenings 18. While any suitable friction material may be used toaccomplish the purpose intended, I have used a strip of very fine sandpaper held to body 22 by a bonding agent of which many types arecommercially available and on the outer or exposed surface of material22 I have applied a sealer such as shellac to protect it fromdeterioration in washing. Rubber may also be used for element 22 in anequivalent manner as the sand paper I have used.

When tab 20 is applied as described it provides a very adequate non-slipfinger grip means for cap 10 that makes it possible to remove the capfrom the bottle with ease and rapidity. It is thus submitted that theinvention shown and described is aptly suited to achieve the purposesintended and is characterized by a combination of highly useful andmutually cooperating elements that combinetheir respective andproportionate functions in accomplishing the objects sought to beobtained.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of mycontainer cap without departing from the real spirit and purpose of myinvention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modifiedforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may bereasonably included within their scope.

Iclairn:

l. A closure for a container having a neck, said closure comprising anintegrally formed cap shaped internally to engage the neck of acontainer, said cap provided with a pair of spaced openings in its outersurface, a tab member formed with a body portion terminating at eachrespective end in a clip portion, and said tab member mounted to theouter surface of said cap by the frictional engagement of said clipportions with said respective openings.

2. A closure for a container having a neck, said closure comprising anintegrally formed cap shaped internally to engage the neck of acontainer, said cap provided with a pair of spaced openings in its outersurface, a tab member formed with a body portion terminating at eachrespective end in a clip portion, said tab member mounted to the outersurface of said cap by the frictional engagement of said clip portionswith said respective openings, and friction material applied to theouter surface of said tab member.

3. A closure for a container having a neck, said closure comprising anintegrally formed arcuate cap shaped internally to engage the neck of acontainer, said cap provided with a pair of spaced openings in its outersurface, an arcuate tab member formed with a body portion terminating ateach respective end in a clip portion, and said tab member mounted tothe outer surface of said cap by the frictional engagement of said clipportions vvith said respective openings so that said tab member projectsfrom the periphery of said cap.

4. A closure for a container having a neck, said closure' comprising anintegrally formed arcuatecap.

shaped'inter-nallyto-engage the neckvof a container, said cap providedwith: a pair of spaced openings in. its outer surface, an arcuate. tab'-member formed with: a body,-por-- tion. terminating, at each respectiveend in a clip portion, said tab. memberimounted to the outer surface. ofsaidcap, by the frictional engagement of said clip portions with saidrespective openings, and the curvature of said tab member shaped to'conform to the curvature of said cap.

5. A- closure for a container having a neck, said closure comprising anintegrally formed. arcuate; cap shaped internally to engage the neck ofa container; said cap provided: with apair of spaced openings in itsouter surface, an arcuate'tab member formed with abody portionrterminating, at each respective end in a clip por tion, said tabmember mounted to the outer surface of said cap by the frictionalengagement of said clip portions with said respective openings, thecurvature of said tab member shaped to conform to the curvature of saidcap, and friction material applied to the outer surface of said tabmember.

References Citedin the file of this patent Roshkind Jan. 15, 1952

